The ADA and the 11th Amendment

[JKSCHW at aol.com]

I thought about the notion of that Congress might use the spending power 
rather than the 14th A to enforce disability rights. But what about remedies? 
Congress can say, obey the ADA or lose your funds. But there would be no 
private right of action. You could not sue for reinstatement or back pay 
under the spending power. No, the ADA has no textual ties to the spending 
power. Back in 1990, that didn't seem necessary.

--Justin Schwartz, Esq.

In a message dated 00-01-22 07:55:03 EST, you write:

<< Well, one difference that could be used to uphold the ADA is that the 
federal

 government has large blocks of funding for state programs aimed at the 
disabled.

 There are a string of precedents allowing the federal government to control

 state action based on the receipt of federal funds in that area of 
legislation.

 Whether that is enough to overcome this whole 11th Amendment approach 
Reinquist

 is reviving is an open question, but it might be possible to pick off one or 
two

 of the conservative majority on the argument that states cannot take 
billions of

 dollars in funding for dealing with the rights of the disabled, then ignore 
the

 antidiscrimination provisions tied to that funding.

 

 I have not looked over the ADA legislation itself, but is there any mention 
of

 funding being explicitly tied to states upholding antidiscrimination laws

 against the disabled? >>